faith, family, and farming

Meal Planning

Everything from this meal came from our garden except the sausage. And what an amazing meal it was!! I’ve been really trying to utilize what we have in our garden to feed our family as well as our livestock (by that I mean our rabbit and chickens). I figured why not give this a try….and well, I’m glad I did!! Here it is:

Sausage Zucchini Boats

1 Lb of sausage

1 Green pepper chopped

1 Onion chopped

1 Jalapeno pepper chopped fine

1 Medium tomato chopped

Real salt

Pepper

Granulated garlic

Olive oil

Directions: Slice zucchini in half and scoop out the seeds. Rub with olive oil and spices. Take sausage out of its casing and brown with the pepper, onion, jalapeno pepper, and tomato. Add spices, stir, and add to zucchini. Bake at 350 uncovered for 25 min. Let cool 5 min and serve. AMAZING!!!

You could add so many things to this.I’m going to try this as a breakfast dish with egg too!! I love zucchini for this reason. It has such a mild flavor that you can pair it with just about anything!!

Tonight I had no meal plan. I have been running around today, and forgot to thaw something out so I needed think fast. The kids had the usual gluten free pasta and sauce, but I decided to give this a try for us grown ups. The tuna with the horseradish sauce topped with the creamy avocado makes for an explosion of flavor in your mouth! I came up with this and honestly, I will definitely be making this again!! Here’s how to make it:

Tuna Cakes with Avocado and Quinoa

2 Large cans of tuna (drained)

1 Egg

1/2 Small onion diced

A few sprigs of flat leaf parsley (minced)(reserve some for garnish)

Onion powder

Celery salt

Pepper

Garlic powder

1 Avocado sliced

Horseradish sauce (mayo and horseradish mixed together)

Quinoa (prepare according to package)

Red beets (for garnish)

Olive oil

Directions: In a bowl, add drained tuna, spices, onion, egg, and parsley. Mix. Heat olive oil in cast iron skillet. Form tuna into balls the size of your hand and flatten to make a patty. When oil is heated, place into skillet. Cook until browned and crispy on both sides (approx 5 min). Cook quinoa and plate. Place cakes on top. Drizzle with horseradish sauce and top with avocado and parsley. Add cooked red beets for a beautiful finish.

You could definitely use crab meat instead and that would taste amazing!! In fact, that is now on my list!! You could also try out different sauces. Tuna really can go with anything. Plus, it’s cheap. And when you’re on a budget, I welcome that!! Enjoy!!

With an abundance of peppers coming into the garden, I wanted to make something for dinner with them. Traditionally, I usually make stuffed peppers with brown rice but I wanted to try something a little different. The meal itself is simple, just a few things here and there, but the taste packs a punch. Here is how I made them.

Directions: Cooked hamburger in a little olive oil and spices until brown. Set aside. Cook quinoa using package instructions (double). Slice pepper and place into a pot of boiling water for 3 minutes. Place in baking dish. When quinoa is cooked, add ground hamburger and mix. Stuff peppers with quinoa mixture. Spoon roasted tomatoes on top. Bake uncovered at 350 for 20 minutes. Let sit for 5 minutes and serve. Enjoy!!

Need a way to use up all those cucumbers in your graden? Here is a really easy recipe that is a staple in the summer! This recipe is gluten free, healthy, filling, and would be great for entertaining. Here’s how to make it.

I would say, “why should gluten free people suffer and not enjoy the things they once did”? But it’s a mind frame. I don’t “suffer” because I choose to not eat gluten. I suffer when I choose not to eat gluten free. So a part of me fell off the wagon this week. I tell you this because nobody is perfect, and we all have setbacks. This week was mine. I was quickly reminded about my choices with a sore foot, water retention, exhaustion, etc. I was never so glad to eat a salad in all my life. It just isn’t worth it. It’s amazing even in people who say that gluten doesn’t effect them, what it is really doing on the inside of your body.

So what do you do when you have these hiccups in your relationship with a new idea of eating? Make better choices. Now I’m not saying eat fried green tomatoes every night. After all, they are still fried. But once in a while, sometimes you want to have something like this. Mine will make you happy and satisfy any craving you may have. Here’s how to make them:

GlutenFreeFriedTomatoes

1 Large green tomato

2 Eggs (egg wash)

Gluten free flour (I used brown rice flour)

Granulated garlic

Real salt

Chili powder

Pepper

Onion powder

Olive oil for frying

Directions: On two plates place the eggs on one slightly beaten. On the other, flour with all the spices (choose the amount of spices if you wish). I use at least a tablespoon per spice (except salt) for 1 1/2 cup flour. Mix and set aside. Slice tomatoes at least a 1/4 in thick. In a cast iron skillet heat olive oil. Place tomato in flour both sides, then egg wash, then flour again. Put in hot oil. Fry approx 2 min each side or until golden brown. Make dipping sauce and serve. Enjoy!

Summer would not be complete without this dish. This is a great way to find something quick and easy as a side for breakfast, lunch, or dinner! They have many recipes out there, but I make mine super easy because sometimes you just don’t have time! Here is how I make mine:

CucumberSalad

3 Cucumbers peeled and sliced thin

2 Tomatoes seeded and chopped

1 Small red onion sliced thin

1/2 Bottle of Italian dressing

Directions: Wash your cucumbers and tomatoes. Peel off some of the peel so it makes strips of green. Slice thin and place in bowl. Cut tomatoes. Take as many seeds out as you can. Chop and put in bowl. Slice onion thin and add to bowl. Pour dressing on top. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour. Serve and enjoy!

You can also use white vinegar and honey instead of dressing. I have made them both ways. Honestly, I just mix vinegar and honey together until it tastes good! No recipe for that!! I didn’t want to use up all my honey since the budget only allowed for a little jar of honey this week.

So I’m on a zucchini kick. I have a lot of it, I’m trying to stay in budget, and well, it comes right from our garden. But my old recipe called for flour and I can’t eat that. Plus, I don’t want to use refined sugar either. So I whipped up a new recipe and hoped for the best. It’s all gone so I’m assuming it was a hit!

GlutenFreeZucchiniBread

2 Cups cassava flour

1 Tsp baking powder

1 Tsp baking soda

1/2 Tsp salt

2 Tsp cinnamon

2 Tbsp dark cocoa powder

1/2 Coconut oil

3 Eggs

1/4 Honey

1 Cup maple syrup

1 1/2 Cup zucchini shredded

Directions: Add all dry ingredients to the bowl. Mix. Add all wet ingredients except zucchini next. Mix. Shred zucchini and fold into mixture. Grease a cake pan or cupcake pan with coconut oil. Pour mixture into cake pan or 1/2 the way for cupcakes. Bake at 325 for 1 hr for cake, testing at 45 minutes. 30 minutes for cupcakes checking at 20. Oven times will vary. You can top with some powder sugar, but we ate ours plain.

These were definitely picky eater approved and she usually doesn’t eat zucchini bread. I think because I added the cocoa powder so she couldn’t see the zucchini!! My husband who really doesn’t eat sweets LOVED these!! Enjoy!!

If your garden is like ours, you probably have more zucchini then you know what to do with!

We love fried zucchini, but we try to avoid gluten at all costs. So I needed to get creative so we could have one of our favorite sides for dinner.

I bought cassava flour about a month ago and tried it out. It was perfect. I love this flour. It is four from the yucca root. It’s light and doesn’t feel heavy on your stomach, and well you wouldn’t even have know the difference! Want to try fried zucchini? Check out my gluten free version:

Directions: Start by heating oil up in cast iron skillet. Get out two plates. Add eggs to one and beat until smooth. Add flour, salt, garlic to the other and mix (use to your liking). Slice zucchini thin. Add zucchini to flour first, then egg, the flour and place in skillet. Cook about 2-3 min each side or until golden brown. Drain on paper towel. Serve immediately!

This is picky eater approved. In fact, I needed to tell her she was cut off!!

A tip on seeing if your oil is ready…use the handle of a wooden spoon. Dip it down into the oil. If bubble start forming around it, it’s ready!!

You can add all different spices. Chili powder is a good one. And add some horseradish sauce for a great added flavor! Enjoy!

Who wants to come home from running and eat ice cream? I do!! But, I don’t want to ruin everything I worked so hard for. Enter…..Banana Ice Cream!! This is a great alternative to having ice cream. It’s so delicious that my younger kids don’t even know the difference!! Plus, since we have some allergies to dairy in the family, no one feels left out. Here is how to make it:

Banana Ice Cream

5-6 Frozen bananas

1 Tsp of vanilla or maple syrup

Toppings of choice

Directions: Add bananas and vanilla or maple syrup to blender. Blend until it starts to have a whipped look. Place in ice cream cups. Add toppings and serve. Enjoy!!

This smoothie is insanely delicious!! It reminds me of the green tea frappuccino from Starbucks except less calories and no refined sugar. I don’t have a fancy name for it. I just love it and drink it often. I made it here with just coconut water, but I also love it with milk which gives it a lighter green color.